Everything I want you to know
by muddyringlets
Summary: Years have passed since the war. Zuko sits on the Fire Lord throne, when his closest friend, moral compass, and favourite relative Uncle Iroh dies. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, or the themes, or anything to do with Avatar: The Last Airbender.


Iroh lay on the bed, buried beneath the covers. His breathing was growing more laboured with each second.

"Zuko" he whispered. "Know that I am proud of you".

Zuko took his Uncle's hand, and held it tightly. A few minutes passed, and he felt the moment his Uncle died, the moment the hand he held stopped holding him back. He could not bring himself to let go for hours.

All his life he had struggled with right and wrong. His Uncle had served as his moral compass through the dark times, always ready to offer advice, even when Zuko himself wasn't ready to hear it. But now, in a world without Iroh? Nothing seemed right anymore. Nothing seemed to matter.

Weeks passed and Zuko seemed to withdraw from his life. When he could be persuaded into attending meetings or meeting officials, he was cold and bitter. His advisors were at a loss. Only a few short years had passed since the end of the war. The Fire Nation had lost the respect of the world. The economy was in ruins and the land was too badly burnt for agricultural use. They needed a leader that everyone could look up to. A leader to be seen helping to rebuild the world. A leader to be proud of. Not a leader too wrapped up in his own grief to care about his country.

Zuko's friends cared. They had been their for the funeral, but had to return to their lives. Suki and Sokka had a wedding to plan. Toph had a Earth-Bending Academy to run. Aang had a world to rebuild. Katara was working with a group of healers, and had patients to see to. But when news reached them of Zuko's grief, they dropped everything and returned to the Fire Nation. They each tried in vain, in their individual ways, to cheer him up. Aang played pranks. Sokka told jokes. Suki taught him about the Kyoshi Warriors. Each found him unresponsive, distracted, lost.

Katara scolded the three of them. Did they not understand the loss he was feeling? Did they not appreciate that it would take him time to heal? To heal. Suddenly, Katara knew what she must do. She went immediately to Zuko's chambers and asked him to take a walk with her. He agreed reluctantly. She led him out to the turtle-duck pond and they sat down. Neither of them said anything. They were both staring intently at the family of turtle-ducks swimming around. After what seemed like an eternity, Katara sighed.

"I understand, you know".

Zuko looked up.

"I understand what you must be going through. It's not fair, it's not okay, and nothing I can say or do will ever change that."

She shuffled closer to him.

"But it gets easier. One morning you'll wake up, and it'll be fractionally easier to breathe. It'll be a tiny bit less difficult to get out of bed in the morning."

She took his hand. He immediately shifted his gaze from her piercingly blue eyes to his hand. It felt warm to his touch.

"It may not be soon. But I promise you that it's coming. And I'm not going to leave you until it does" she finished decidedly.

Shocked, Zuko withdrew his hand, and looked back into her eyes.

"Katara, you don't have to do that."

"But I want to" she said defiantly.

A silence fell over them. But it wasn't awkward. They were both thinking. Katara knew that this was her path. She was a natural, born, healer, and here was a close friend who needed a lot of healing. Zuko was thinking about the sacrifice he knew she was making. He was touched that she cared about him so much. A single tear escaped down his cheek.

"Thank you".

They remained seated for some time. Eventually it got dark, and they both returned to their respective chambers. They repeated this routine everyday for weeks. Sometimes they talked, reminiscing about Iroh. Sometimes they spent hours in silence. Sometimes Katara used Water-Bending to try and heal him, or at least to heal some of his sadness. Slowly but surely, life began to return to normal for the Fire Lord. He started attending meetings again, he started dealing with his subjects. Increasingly he found that he was turning to Katara for advice and counsel, at times even for company. They bonded, and despite their differences, despite the years spent as enemies in the war, they found themselves falling in love.

One morning when they met by turtle-duck pond, Zuko looked guilty, as if he had something on his mind to confess to. Concerned, Katara asked him what was wrong.

"I woke up this morning, and it was easier to breathe. You've been so wonderful, but I can't ask you to give up any more of your time. There are other people who need you more."

Katara was hurt. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she didn't want to leave. She took a step away from him, blinking back tears.

"If that's how you feel."

Katara turned away, the tears coming faster now, a lump forming in her throat.

To see her upset was more than Zuko could bear. He chased after her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. He leaned down and stared into those beautiful blue eyes, brimming with tears. She turned her head, but he reached up and gently turned her face to look directly into his. He leaned in, impossibly close.

"It's not."

With that he leaned in and kissed her. It was soft, but passionate. That kiss summed up everything he wanted to say to her. All the gratitude, respect, awe, companionship and love that he felt. And when she got over her surprise, and kissed him back, it said everything she felt. It expressed the need she had developed for him. It said "I don't ever want to leave your side".

And whenever they kissed it was like that. At their wedding, when they shared their love with the world. After the birth of the twins, one a Water-Bender called Irah, and the other a Fire-Bender called Kyo. Their last kiss before they died, old, happy, and warm in their sleep. Every kiss they shared, every embrace, every look said everything they wanted to say. They lived their lives depending on each other more than anyone could understand. She was his light, guiding him towards the good. He was her outlet, the one person she could let her guard down with, the only person who could see the real her.


End file.
